Debate
“How Big a Threat is Global
Warming?” page 616
Al Gore “The Time to Act is Now”
pages 617-621
Daniel B. Botkin “Global Warming
Delusions” pages 623-628
Al Gore “The Time to Act is Now”
pages 617-621
1. What is the name of the documentary Gore
won an academy award for in 2007? Why did
Gore win the Nobel Peace Prize?
2. Summarize the background on the politics of
global warming in a few sentences.
3. List all the effects of global warming that
Gore enumerates.
4. List the causes of global warming, according
to Gore, and the solutions he proposes.
Al Gore “The Time to Act is Now”
pages 617-621
5. Is Gore writing to change people’s minds or to alter
their behavior? Give evidence from his essay to
explain your answer.
6. Quote the lines and give the paragraph number that
Gore uses to acknowledge the opposition to his
argument. How does he deal with this opposition?
(how does he refute the opposing argument?)
7. Why did Gore use a bulleted list following paragraph
4? Is it effective?
8. What did you know about global warming before
reading Gore’s essay? Has reading the essay changed
your views on the subject? Explain why or why not.
Daniel B. Botkin “Global Warming
Delusions” pages 623-628
9. When and where did Botkin publish his essay “Global
Warming Delusions”? List his degrees and job title.
Summarize the predicted effects of global warming in a
few sentences.
10. How does Botkin dispute claims that global warming will
lead to the threat of plant and animal extinction and the
spread of tropical disease?
11. Why does Botkin think that overstated concerns about
global warming are a problem? What example does he
offer o explain this point?
12. What is Botkins’s purpose in paragraph 5? What effect do
you suppose he hoeps this paragraph will have on
readers?
Daniel B. Botkin “Global Warming
Delusions” pages 623-628
13. Where does Botkin present the opposing
argument that exaggerating the threat of global
warming is a good thing? Quote the lines and
give the paragraph number.
14. List the evidence Botkin presents in the essay.
Clearly state if it is fact or opinion, and write the
paragraph number for each piece of evidence.
15. Is his evidence convincing? Explain why or why
not.
Global Warming Debate
16. Briefly summarize the arguments made by Gore
and Botkin and explain which writer you find
more convincing. Provides specific evidence from
both essays to support your position.
17. Where in the Gore’s essay does he use inductive
reasoning?
18. Where in Botkin’s essay does he use inductive
reasoning?
19. Write a syllogism for either Gore’s essay or
Botkin’s essay.